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Sometimes, you just feel like making cookies from scratch. And you have cookie cutters to represent the states you live in. And so you make state-shaped cookies from scratch.

What?

I tried a new recipe – the hubs didn’t love it, but I did! Whenever you are rolling out dough and using cookie cutters, you need to make sure you are using a recipe that won’t rise or puff up at all, because that would jeopardize your shapes. They are already going to look a little wonky – don’t make it worse!

I used this VERY simple recipe from Nestle. I ended up drizzling chocolate on them to make them a little extra sweet, but you could also ice them as they show on their website.

And I thought, I SHOULD MAKE OHIO COOKIES! So I made these…some Vanilla Almond cookies with a football cookie cutter, and some of the afore mentioned chocolate chip cookies shaped like Ohio, and with a little extra chocolate love. Also I made a LOT more than six, but I forgot to take a photo, and this is what was left near the end…

I think he liked them! I’ll miss seeing this face around the building everyday…

Last weekend was my mom’s birthday! As a kid, I always got such a kick out of the fact that her birthday was March 7 and mine was September 7, exactly six months apart, “but different years!” I used to joke. Obvi. Here is my favorite embarrassing photo I’ve posted of her…

Some years we don’t get to celebrate birthdays together, but some years we do! Three years back for a certain special milestone birthday, we made our way to Charleston. We both loved that trip, but due to my mom’s genes, leading to a bad hip, she couldn’t get around as much as she wanted to. Since then, she’s had her hip replaced, I’ve moved to a new state and gotten married, and this was the first trip we’ve had where we could relax, shop, drink wine, and just hang out! The chaos of the last few years seems to have subsided for now.

Over the holidays, we spent six nights in my home state of Wisconsin, and then six nights in my hubby’s home state of Tennessee. We spent most of the time with family, a few friends, and each other. It was relaxing and also long enough that by the time it was over, I was very ready to get back to my regular work routine.

Tonight is Christmas Eve Eve, or as my husband likes to call it, Christmas Adam… And tonight we fly to my homeland in Wisconsin. Last year, our first married Christmas together, we spent in Tennessee, and promised this year would be Wisconsin. Next year? Who knows. One thing at a time!

But in honor of our trip even further north in the midwest than we already are, I’m reposting this little picture post from four years ago. I can’t help but love the pretty little details of the yard I grew up in. If you don’t see me for the next few days, I’ll be watching Christmas movies and drinking cocoa, without a care in the world! Merry Christmas, y’all!!

I know that this is crazy delayed, but it’s finally time for that annual update of photos from the 4th! Since the parade pretty much looks the same every year, I’ll share a few other adventures instead. We were so lucky to have the hubster’s cousin and his wife drive up from Nashville to join us for the long weekend. Our visit included a 5K, a Sprecher tour, backyard games, and good times all around! So grateful for my family, my hometown, and all the amazing people in my life. What is life without your community??

Before I talk about the new year – what it’s already brought and what’s yet to come – I feel like I need to wrap up 2013, and share a little love from our Christmas adventures.

First, we HAD to have our first, married Christmas tree. So the weekend after Thanksgiving, we went to a tree farm out in the country, and cut down our own! Well, let’s be honest. Jonathan cut it down.

But it was a great time, that we will always remember! Also, we named our tree Tenny, after Tennessee, of course. Here she is!

I also realized I never shared my Christmas centerpiece and nativity with y’all! I kept it pretty simple, but loved it. Gold and red chargers, with gold and white napkins. A simple, wintry runner. Tall stands filled with gold and red ornaments. Red candles. And my favorite part is copied from my mother – a jewelry tree with “The Twelve Days of Christmas” ornament set hanging from it.

My nativity was given to me piece by piece throughout my childhood from my mom. It is made by Fontanini, and this was the first year I finally got to take it out and set it up. I love it! It reminds me of home.

For Christmas, we took 10 days to travel to Wisconsin, and then to Tennessee to be with our families. We had a great time, and it feels like it has taken us a solid week just to settle back in. We had a pretty low-key New Year’s here in Columbus, and I finally feel caught up on the little stuff.

So finally, here are a few favorites from our time in very snowy Wisconsin, then in Nashville for Christmas, and then Gatlinburg for a few nights in the mountains. I hope you had wonderful holidays with your families as well!

Believe it or not, we do other things in Wisconsin, other than just watching the Packers. On our most recent trip, we actually drove from Columbus, so we made a pit stop for some Chicago style pizza…

We also helped with a baby shower for my cousin, which included an amazing diaper cake made to look like a tricycle, made by another cousin’s girlfriend, and a few cake bites made by yours truly, of course.

And, we even squeezed in a little time out with a bestie.

All in all, it was a quick trip, but a fun one! OH, and we brought back many of my Christmas decorations I’ve been “saving for when I’m a grown up,” so there will be more on that when the time comes to decorate the house. Cheers!